Hand strap



Nov. 22, 1938. e. R. MUNRO ET AL HAND STRAP Filed Feb. 17, 1958 ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAND STRAP ration of Maine Application February 1'7, 1938, Serial No. 190,998

7 Claims.

This invention relates-t hand straps oi the kind commonly used in surface, subway, and elevated passenger cars and is concerned more particularly with a novel hand strap which oiiers Ii numerous advantages, both in construction and appearance, over the devices previously used for the purpose.

The new hand strap includes a bracket which is secured to a suitable part of the car structure,

and a hanger pivotally mounted on a pin on the bracket and terminating in the usual loop handle. The hanger is normally held in retracted position by means of a spring encircling the pin and having a fixed end anchored on the bracket and a 16 movable end engaging a part of the hanger and contacting with a stop on the bracket, when the strap is not in use. The hanger and bracket are so constructed as to conceal the spring, and the stop, which is adjustable to permit variations in the retracted position of the hanger, is at the rear of the bracket and thus hidden from view. Since the spring is not attached to the pin in any way, assembling of the device is a relatively simple operation and removal and replacement of parts, should the occasion arise, may be done rapidly and easily.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a view of the new hand strap in side elevation with parts broken away;

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation with parts broken away;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of the bracket of the strap;

Figure 5 is a view of the bracket in front elevation;

' Figure 6 is a view in section on the line 66 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary View in side elevation of the hanger of the strap;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view in front eleva- 46- tion of the hanger; and

Figure 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

The new hand strap, as illustrated in the drawing, includes a bracket It provided at its upper end with a plate II which serves as a means by which the bracket may be attached to a suitable portion of the car structure, illustrated conventionally at l2. The bracket is provided at its lower end with a pair of spaced lugs I3 having openings l4 for the reception of the ends of a pin having an end 2| which projects'beyond the sur- 10 face l9 and forms an adjustable stop.

Mounted rotatably on the pin is a hanger 2?.

which terminates in the usual hand loop 23. At

its upper end, the hanger is formed with spaced lugs 24 having aligned openings in which 15:.

mounted bushings 25, through which the pin extends, and connecting the lugs along one side thereof is a shield 26 terminating at its'free end in a radial surface 21. Projecting inward from one of the lugs toward the other is a plate 28, 2.0.

beneath which is a recess 29, and the plate has a radial end formed with a slot 30. The inner surfaces of the shield 26 and the plate 28 are arcuate in form, as is also the outer surface of the plate. 25?

Encircling the pin 15 is a coil spring 3! which has a fixed end 32 received in a bore 33 in the shield 16 near the shoulder IS. The other end 34 of the spring is movable and projects radially from the pin, passing through the slot at in the 30;

plate 28, and, under normal conditions, engaging the stop 2i.

In the assembled device, the lugs 2 on the hanger lie in the spaces between the lugs i3 and the shield It on the bracket with the plate 28 35'.

entering the recess I1. When the strap is not in use, the movable end 34 of the spring will have moved in. a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 3, swinging the hanger with it, and the movement of the end of the spring and hanger 4 will have been limited by engagement of the spring end with the stop screw 20. The hanger is then in the retracted position, illustrated in Figure 1. When the strap is in use, the person grasping the handle loop will ordinarily swing 45 the hanger to about the vertical position, and this swinging movement can be continued beyond the vertical until the radial surface 21 on the shield 25 engages the radial surface l8 on the shield it;

Such movement of the hanger in the counter; 50.

clockwise direction is against the action of the spring, and when the handle is released, the spring restores the hanger to retracted position. The hanger can be moved manually to a position somewhat beyond the retracted position, as shown 55 in Figures 1 and 3, this movement continuing until the surface 29a of the recess 29 engages the end IQ of the shield. The retracted position of the strap may be varied, as desired, by adjustment of the stop screw 28, and as the screw is threaded farther into its bore so that its end 2| projects farther beyond the surface :9, the retracted position of the hanger approaches the vertical.

In the new device, the spring is concealed and protected by the two shields and the plate so that the structure may have smooth lines, with the mechanism wholly out of sight, and since the adjusting screw is at the rear of the device, it is almost completely hidden from view and does not impair the appearance of the strap. In the prior devices, it has been customary to place the adjusting screw at the front of the strap, and this is objectionable from the standpoint of appearance. Also, in the new strap, the spring is not anchored to the pin and, accordingly, in assembling the device or taking it apart, the pin can be removed without interference by the spring. In the prior devices, one end' of the spring has usually been received in a bore in a pin, so that the pin can not be removed until the spring has been disengaged therefrom, and the necessity of thus disconnecting and reconnecting the spring to the pin. makes dismantling and assembling of the prior devices difiicult.

The new hand strap thus offers all the advantages of the prior devices in that the hanger is normally retained in retracted position by spring pressure, and the retracted position may be varied, as desired. In addition, the new strap is of improved appearance and it is easier to assemble and take apart.

We claim:

1. In a hand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, a hanger having a pair of spaced lugs mounted on the pin and lying between the lugs and shield on the bracket, and a shield on the hanger extending partly around the pin on the other side thereof from the bracket shield, the hanger being rotatable about the axis of the pin with its movement limited by engagement of the shields.

2. In a hand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, a hanger having a pair of spaced lugs mounted on the pin and lying between the lugs and shield on the bracket, a shield on the hanger extend ing partly around the pin and lying on the other side thereof from the bracket shield, and a spring encircling the pin and having one end anchored on the bracket and'the other end bearing against a part of the hanger.

3. In a hand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, a hanger having a pair of spaced lugs mounted on the pin and lying between the lugs and shield on the bracket, a shield on the hanger connecting the lugs and extending partly around the pin on the other side thereof from the bracket shield, a spring encircling the pin and having a fixed end anchored on the bracket and a movable end bearing against a part of the hanger, and an adjustable stop for the movable end of the spring mounted in the bracket.

4. In a hand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, and a hanger having a pair of spaced lugs mounted on the pin and lying between the lugs and shield on the bracket, a shield on the hanger extending partly around the pin on the other side thereof from the bracket shield, said shields and bracket substantially completely enclosing the pin in their normal positions, and a plate on the hanger extending partly around the pin and lying within the bracket shield, the hanger being rotatable about the axis of the pin with its movements limited by engagement of the shields on the hanger and bracket.

5. In a hand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, a hanger having a pair of spaced lugs mounted on the pin and lying between the lugs and shield on the bracket, a shield on the hanger connecting the lugs thereon and extending partly around the pin on the other side thereof from the bracket shield, a plate on the hanger lying between the lugs and beneath the shield on the bracket, and a spring encircling the pin and having a fixed end anchored on the bracket and a movable end engaging the plate on the hanger.

6. In a hand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, a hanger mounted for rotation on the pin between the lugs on the bracket, said hanger having a shield extending partly around the pin at one side and a plate extending partly around the pin at the opposite side, a spring encircling the pin and having a fixed end anchored on the bracket and a movable end engaging the plate, and an adjustable stop on the bracket behind the hanger for limiting movement of the movable end of the spring in one direction.

7. In ahand strap, the combination of a bracket having an attaching portion, a pair of spaced lugs on the bracket, a shield on the bracket lying between and spaced from the lugs at one side thereof, a pin mounted in the lugs, a hanger having spaced bearings through which the pin passes and a shield connecting the bearings along one side thereof, a plate on the hanger projecting from one bearing toward the other and received in a recess in the shield on the bracket, a spring encircling the pin and having a fixed end received in an opening in the bracket shield and a movable end engaging the plate on the hanger, and an adjustable stop on the bracket shield engaged by the movable end of the spring.

GEORGE ROLFE MUNRO. WALTER CALBBLE DILG. 

